Author: Tim Graczewski
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The Fall of the Roman Empire (1976) by Michael Grant
Michael Grant may not be the most revered classical scholar of the late twentieth century, but he just may be the most prolific. Mr. Grant published on an astonishing scale, especially for a man who spent most of his adult life in the diplomatic service of his country, Great Britain. This piece, underscoring the many…
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Creating Modern Capitalism: How Entrepreneurs, Companies, and Countries Triumphed in Three Industrial Revolutions (1999) by Thomas K. McCraw
It is interesting and usually insightful to contrast influential theses on great topics in history. Take business innovation and capitalist-driven growth in the developed western economies. Alfred Chandler won the Pulitzer Prize with “The Visible Hand,” a comprehensive and penetrating review of US economic history, which argued for the powerful impact of two roughly simultaneous…
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Augustus: The Life of Rome’s First Emperor (2006) by Anthony Everitt
The trouble with Anthony Everitt is that he makes reading books on ancient history by other qualified, contemporary authors seem so, well, dry and ancient. He possesses a unique ability to put figures like Cicero and Octavian into situations and terms that are remarkably relatable to typical twenty-first century westerners. Long dead aristocrats from a…
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A Revolutionary People at War: The Continental Army and American Character, 1775-1783 (1980) by Charles Royster
Doctoral dissertations rarely make interesting reading. Fewer still win the Parkman Prize. “A Revolutionary People at War: The Continental Army and American Character, 1775-1783,” based largely on Charles Royster’s University of California PhD dissertation, is a notable exception. Royster argues that a number of issues motivated the American soldiers who fought the Revolution, but above…
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The Roman Army at War 100 BC-AD 200 (1996) by Adrian Goldsworthy
Adrian Keith Goldsworthy has quickly emerged as one of the most distinguished and prolific young classical scholars. This monograph, an adaptation of his doctoral dissertation from Oxford, is detailed and academic, but surprisingly fluid and accessible. Goldsworthy asserts that the best way to study an army is first to review its performance at its intended…
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Roman Imperialism in the Late Republic (1971) by Ernst Badian
The nature of Roman imperialism, during both the Republic and Empire, has been endlessly debated. In Badian’s view, the rise of Roman imperialism, an aggressive system marked by exploitation and annexation, can be best explained by looking at the weltanschaug of the Roman ruling class — the Senate. By the late Republic, he argues, the…
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Sir John Fisher’s Naval Revolution (2002) by Nicholas A. Lambert
Naval policy before the First World War and the so-called Dreadnought revolution is a fascinating case study in strategic defense policy and there are many notable pieces of historiography on the subject (Marder, Sumida, Massie, etc.). Nicholas Lambert’s contribution to the debate, “Sir John Fisher’s Naval Revolution,” is a daring revision of just about everything…
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Fall of the Roman Empire: The Military Explanation (1988) by Arther Ferrill
I worked with the Pentagon’s Office of Net Assessment in the 1990s. For all the fuss made back then about an emerging Revolution in Military Affairs – long range precision strike capabilities and information dominance – many of us believed that the truly important core competence of the US armed forces was (and would remain)…
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Corruption and the Decline of Rome (1988) by Ramsay Macmullen
The military explanation for the fall of Rome is a familiar one, and it remains popular. It goes something like this: by the third century barbarians began to outnumber native Roman citizens in the ranks of the army; cavalry units eclipsed the traditional foundation of Roman strength found in the infantry legions; frontier units became…
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